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With turkey day coming up quicker than you can blink. It can be sometimes difficult to decide what to make. Many of us amateur chefs like to leave our guest hungry for more and begging for the recipe. But we don’t always have a brand new dining trick up our sleeve. The Lifestyles of Long Beach team decided to put a call out to all of you amazing Long Beach cooks. We invite you to share one of your signature dishes with us. We will post the best of the best on Friday Morning with your name and any image you provide. We encourage recipes for all types of dining including vegetarian and vegan and for any situation such as on-the-go or including-the-kitchen sink. Whether you just moved into a new home or you have your entire family coming over at noon, what recipe are you flourishing this holiday? Please feel free to send us your entry via our facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/Lifestyles-of-Long-Beach-Real-Estate/ or by email us at RTR@RicardoTheRealtor.com, and don’t forget to add a picture!

To get our taste buds warmed up, here are some intriguing Thanksgiving Day Recipes we have found around the net. There are some handy tips on how to roast a turkey, make a vegan dish, or a simple and scrumptious pie:

Something Traditional: A Crash-Course on How to Roast a Turkey

One Day Ahead: Prep the Turkey

Remove neck and giblets from the body cavity, reserving for stock, if desired.

Rinse turkey well under cold water and pat dry with paper towel.

With a sharp knife, remove the wing tips (up to the first joint) and add those to the stock pot, too.

Place turkey on a tray or pan and lightly salt all over. Leave uncovered in the fridge overnight. This will allow the bird’s skin to dry out, making it crispier, plus the salt will add flavor to the meat without the hassle of a wet brine.

Bring to room temperature

Remove turkey from the fridge. Rub a softened stick of butter ALL over the bird. Coating the skin with butter will help to keep the meat moist, add flavor, and ensure the skin turns a perfect golden brown color.

Place the turkey on a wire rack in a large, shallow roasting pan.

Leave the turkey on the counter and allow it to come to room temperature.

Roasting the Perfect Turkey – Temperature

5 lbs – 1 – 1/2 hrs

8 lbs – 1- 3/4 hrs

10 lbs – 2 hrs

12 lbs – 2 – 1/2 hrs

15 1bs – 2 – 3/4 hours

17 lbs – 3 hours

20 lbs – 3 – 1/2 hours

Tip: Loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil if it looks like the top is browning too quickly. I also have to rotate the pan 180° every hour or so for even browning in my old oven.

The All-Important Step: Resting

After pulling it from the oven, do not transfer the turkey to its place of honor at the center of the table… just yet. Instead, tent it with foil and let it rest for at least thirty minutes (and up to an hour). Place the turkey directly on a tray (not on a rack), as this will allow the cooking juices to be re-absorbed by the meat instead of losing the moisture as soon as the turkey is sliced into.

Check out the rest of the recipes and other great turkey tips at the Simple Bites blog.

Something Simple: Pom-Apple Cranberry Relish

Ingredients

2 cups pomegranate juice

1/2 cup sugar

12 ounce bag fresh cranberries

1 medium crisp apple, peeled, cored, diced

1 cup pomegranate arils (seeds)

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (or parsley)

Preparation

1. Simmer the pomegranate juice and sugar until it has a syrupy consistency.

—about 15 minutes. (Thin like pure maple syrup.)

2. Meanwhile, using a food processor, coarsely chop the cranberries.

3.Pour them into a medium bowl and add the pomegranate syrup. It’s ok if it’s still warm.

Preparation

1. De-crust your bread. Slice into small cubes. Set aside.
2. Prepare your fluffy wild rice if you are using it. Set Aside.
3. In a medium soup pan, turn heat on med-high, and melt in the buttery spread. Add the celery, onion, parsley and poultry seasoning. Saute until tender.
4. Add in the pecans, dried fruit, tangerine juice, tangerine zest, salt, pepper and dried orange peel. Stir for a few minutes.
5. Fold in the butternut squash puree. Then add in your veggie broth.
6. Fold in your bread cubes. Try not to ‘mash’ the bread, but you also want it soaked through. If adding wild rice, fold it in now. You may need to add more or less bread cubes depending on the dryness of your bread. Too soggy? Add more cubes. Too dense? Add a bit more veggie broth.
7. Transfer stuffing into your “stuff it” selection and proceed as stated above.
To see the entire recipe and other terrific vegan options, check out The Healthy Happy Life Blog.

Something Unique: Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie

First, the pie dough recipe….

[Note, this makes 2 crusts, so halve the recipe, as I did, or divide in two and freeze the other half.]

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

3/4 cup ice cold water

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together.

Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss the cubes in the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the pieces of butter are the size of hazelnuts.

While pulsing in quick, 4-second bursts, drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the feed tube.

As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, remove it from the food processor and divide it into two equal balls. Flatten to a disk and wrap each disk first in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the disks until firm, about 1 hour. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.)

Now for the actual pie….

Ingredients:

1 ball of Classic Pie Dough (1/2 of the recipe above), chilled

2 cups pecan halves, toasted (<–important to toast! don’t skip)

3 large eggs

3/4 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons bourbon

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap the ball of chilled dough and put it directly on the work surface. [Note: use Amanda Hesser’s trick and do this between two sheets of plastic.]

Roll out into a 12-inch round.

Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into the pie dish, folding any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go.

Wrap and freeze the crust until firm, about 2 hours, or up to 3 months.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Coarsely chop 3/4 cup of the pecans. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Add the corn syrup, sugars, butter, salt, vanilla, and bourbon. Whisk again until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans and set the filling aside.

Spread the chocolate chips evenly along the bottom of the frozen pie shell.

Slowly pour the filling on top of the chocolate chips.

Arrange the remaining 1 1/4 cups pecan halves on top of the filling.

Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 minutes. [Note: I didn’t do this and it was fine, but check periodically to see if the edges are getting too brown.] Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done. If the knife comes out with clumps of filling sticking to it, bake for another 5 minutes and test again.

Cool the pie on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature. [I served with a big dollop of whipped cream.] The pie can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.